Then Saul gave David his own armor—a bronze helmet and a coat of mail. David put it on, strapped the sword over it, and took a step or two to see what it was like, for he had never worn such things before. “I can’t go in these,” he protested to Saul….So David took them off again. He picked up five smooth stones from a stream and put them into his shepherd’s bag. Then, armed only with his shepherd’s staff and sling, he started across the valley to fight the Philistine. Goliath walked out toward David with his shield bearer ahead of him, sneering in contempt at this ruddy-faced boy. “Am I a dog,” he roared at David, “that you come at me with a stick?” And he cursed David by the names of his gods. “Come over here, and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and wild animals!” Goliath yelled. David replied to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies….and he will give you to us!” (Excerpts from I Samuel 17. Trust me, read the whole story!)
Have you ever been facing something huge in your life? Debt? Sickness? Depression? Family problems? And then ever have anyone tell you what you should do about it? It worked for them, so you have to do it too, right?
There are a lot of things I would consider “giants” in life, and we have faced quite a few in our day. You look at it and think….I got nothing! What i have is nothing compared to what would fix it. Been there. Done that. Bought the t-shirt and wore it for a while. Not fun!
David walked into a scene playing out of the giant Goliath challenging the Israelites who daily got scared and ran away. No one would face him. And David was astounded! He was ready to go up and face him right now! The Israelites tried to talk him out of it. They thought he was a little cray-cray!
He finally convinced them it was okay, but King Saul tried to make him put his own armor on. “Okay, you can go, but you have to wear this. Use my something, because I don’t like your nothing.” David tried it, but in the end, he stuck with what he knew….his “nothing.”
So he went out to fight a giant armed to the teeth with shields and swords and armor…..with 5 smooth stones and a slingshot. Good choice, David! That’s what I would have done too! Or not so much! I’m sure they REALLY thought he was CRAAAZZZYYYYY now!
He goes out to meet Gloliath, and Goliath was totally OFFENDED that they sent such a young boy to face him who wasn’t even armed. Even Goliath thought David was CRAY-CRAY! “Ummm….don’t you know who I am? You are coming to fight me with NOTHING!?! Come on…make it a fair fight.”
But David’s nothing was better than everybody else’s something. Why? Because David knew his “nothing” didn’t really matter. He trusted the One who was going to win the battle for Him….the Lord of Heaven’s Armies! His nothing was better because God didn’t need his nothing. He just needed his act of faith.
Our little girl started having seizures when she was two years old. They started out sporadically as petit mal seizures and progressed into grand mal seizures more and more often. It was scary. VERY scary. We worked with a neurologist and people came out of the woodwork to give us their “something.” What worked for them. What they did facing sickness. What scripture they used or what act of faith they did for their healing. They were all well-meaning, I know. But it wasn’t really helping.
We had to get our direction from the Lord. How do You want us to handle this? He led us to play worship music 24/7 on all the floors in our house. Really, God? How will that help? And I’m sure people thought, “No! You need to quote this scripture and speak this thing. That’s not enough!” But, it wasn’t about our nothing. It was about an act of faith…….And two years later, she was seizure-free on the meds and still, years later, she is seizure-free off the meds.
You may be facing a giant and feel like you got nothing. You may have people giving you their “something.” But remember, your “nothing” is better because it is God’s direction for you. It may not make sense to your mind, and that is okay. He has tailor-made a miracle for you, and all He needs is your act of faith of what looks like nothing to bring it to pass. Don’t let anyone else devalue your “nothing.” Act on it. He is faithful and He will come through for you!
For more on God using your nothing, read A whole lot of nothing and What do you have in your hand?